From East to West
by EvilLydia
Summary: Jerry interviews some new transfers from New York while the girls are having a little trouble on their day off.
1. An Unexpected Situation

I don't own Totally Spies or Baccano, I just love them both.

Chapter 1 - An Unexpected situation

Jerry was skimming through some paperwork that needed this approval when his phone notified him that he had a new email. With a sigh, he put down what he was doing to answer it. He needed a break anyway, he reasoned with himself.

"Transfer request?" he mumbled, looking at the subject. It wasn't that odd, although it had been awhile he had one. Nine times out of ten they were denied unless the applicant had a very good reason.

Upon opening it he found that it was two requests put into one email. Brother and sister team, the Walkens, were formidable. From what he had heard they were as good as his girls. They were based in New York so he was curious why they wanted to come to California.

Quickly, he scrolled to the bottom, figuring that he could read all about them later. Interestingly enough, they weren't the ones that sent in the request. It was their manager. Jerry was getting a troubling feeling about this, so he decided to call Tom himself. They had always been open, if not somewhat friendly to each other.

"Tom," Jerry greeted him after two short rings.

"Jerry!" Tom replied happily, "I take it you got the requests."

"Yes, I was curious about that."

"Well," Tom's voice shifted, making him sound a little tired, "you see I have a problem."

"One you're trying to push on me?" Jerry joked.

"Something like that." Tom chucked. "I am retiring soon. The directer that is replacing me if fine but... he has some new ideas."

"Ones you don't agree with?" Jerry thought he could see where this was going.

"Not necessarily," Tome continued, "Some of his ideas are fine but from what I heard he likes mixing up the teams. This won't work with the Walkens. Aside from that, they're stubborn. It took me several months before I could control them. Benjamin is intelligent, to be sure, but he is not as strict as I am. If they were to be put under his command, they would push until he gives in."

"And you think I could handle them better?" Jerry asked.

Tom sighed, "I think that you have the ability to keep them in their place." Jerry couldn't help but think about the implication. "I'll arrange for you to meet with them for an interview."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, a young boy sat in the living room of a low-end apartment fiddling with what looked like a silver egg with a watch attracted. He almost reminded one of a life-sized doll, so skinny with ball joints. Scars ran along his face and arms, almost like someone was trying to make a road map on his skin.

His eyes were so focused on the egg that he failed to notice the man that walked into the room from the kitchen. "Mr. Rail?" the man asked as he sat down.  
It was a little odd to call a child 'Mr.' but he said it so naturally you wouldn't think it was forced or teasing. However 'Mr. Rail' ignored him. "Do you really think that we can take down Nebula? I mean, aren't they a really big company. Like, they're international. On factory isn't going to make much difference."

"Jack," Mr. Rail addressed him so casually. He was still looking up from the egg but he did have the watch part open. "Firstly, it's not a factory, it's a research facility. Secondly, it doesn't matter if they fall from this. I'm not after the company. With that woman in our hands, Nebula won't have a choice but to stop future development. Besides, I have some personal business with her."

"So, this is actually a kidnapping."

"Yup," Mr. Rail said smoothly.

"Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I'm OK with that." he replied, as if they were discussing what to have for dinner.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Claudia traced the designed in the mask in her hand not really listening to her great-grandpa's story. An interesting as it was, there was a lot going on. Charon had just gotten a call from Tom, probably their last mission with him.

It was actually a relief that the Mask Makers had nothing to do with WHOOP. That meant that anything that she did would be off record. Huey was one of the first Mask Makers but he left them a long time ago.

She smiled to herself, thinking about how she could take it and make it hers. Since Huey abandoned it, would it be too cruel to turn it on him? She almost laughed out loud at the thought. What to do first?

When Charon came back into the room he sat down next to her. "We have an appointment tomorrow at 10." He said simply.

"Fine," she said, her mind was still elsewhere.

"Say," grandpa Felix leaned back. Grandma Chane,who had fallen asleep some time ago on his lap, shifted slightly so he patted her on the side of the head, "the two of you aren't doin' the movie thing anymore, huh?"

Charon shook his head but Claudia answered, "We have a more promising, but maybe not as rewarding career track ahead of us. Unfortunately, we could only choose one of the other."

"'Kay, long as you're happy." He said simply. That was the end of the matter. He didn't question what their new career was and they didn't offer any explanation.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Clover was crazy in love with Eric. He was strong, funny, romantic, smart, and did she mention hot? Because he was. If perfect was in the dictionary (OK, it already was) it would just be a picture of his face.

One again she was raving about him to Sam and Alex. They might be getting a little annoyed but she just couldn't stop talking about him. Besides, they were probably just jelly.

Weirdly, he turned the corner to find them. "Eric!" She squealed and ran to hug his arm. Something in the back of her mind said something was wrong but she pushed the thought down.

"Eric, are you OK?" Alex asked.

"I, uh, have something to show you. Can you excuse us for a moment?" He seemed nervous and hesitant. "It'll be OK, it's good for all of us." It was like he was trying to convince himself. "Come with me."

He led her back the way he had come and then into an ally. "Eric," Clover gave him a serious look, "this have better be, like, the best thing ever, and not just a dirty ally."

"Look," he pulled out a huge knife.

"Whoa! Eric but that down!"

"I want to be with you forever, Clover." Finally, she noticed the crazy look in his eyes. "And with his help we can be." He pulled the knife along his arm, blood was blossoming behind it.

After that the impossible happened. The blood that had fallen to the ground jumped back up. It was like time was reversing itself.  
While she was watching a man walked up behind her and covered her mouth with a cloth. Clover tried to struggle but a wave of dizziness washed over her. She managed to break free for a moment but fell to her knees before him. She looked into his eyes, refusing to believe that was a guilty look on his face as a set of hands grabbed her. "Er..ic, wh-"

His face was the last thing she saw as her world faded to black.


	2. The Stars Aline

Chapter 2 - The Stars Aline

When Clover woke up she tried to look around to get an idea of her surroundings. Unfortunately, she was strapped into a sturdy chair facing a wall and couldn't see behind her. From what she could tell she was in some sort of lab. There didn't seem to be any windows and she couldn't see the door. All of her original clothes were on but her purse was gone. "Darn," she said under her breath. All of her gadgets were in her purse.

There were several people in lab coats walking around but it didn't seem like any of them noticed her. As she was trying to think of a way to get out of this, a little chime caught her attention. It was soon followed by a few quick strides.

Soon a well dress, middle-aged man appeared before her. Despite the important air he held he looked rather bored.. "You're awake sooner then expected."

"Oh well, I'm _so sorry_." Clover rolled her eyes.

He placed his hands behind his back. "I would like to personally welcome you to Nebula." He paused before continuing. "Eric was to instruct you as to what will happen. Is there anything that you don't understand?"

"What did you do to him?" she shouted, "Who are you?"

The man nodded slowly. "Clearly nothing was explained."

"Ya think?"

"Well, I'll start by saying that some of the rumors surrounding Nebula _are _true." For the first time there was a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Our goal is the ultimate power; the power of knowledge. I order to-"

"Ok, first," she shook her head to get him to stop for a moment. "I don't know, or care, what Nebula is. Secondly, you didn't answer _any_ of my questions. And finally, **let me out or you'll regret it!**" She struggled as much as she could.

Whatever emotion he had felt a moment ago had vanished. "I suppose I didn't. To put it simply, Nebula is-"

But as he was saying this there was a crash. A pretty woman had run into one of the scientists and knocked everything he was holding o the floor. She had on a simple black pencil skirt and a lab coat but she wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Dr. Brianviller," the man said sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose.

She let out a little 'oh' and dropped everything in her hands, causing more of a mess for the scientist that she had bumped into. "Oh my, Mr. Director!" she clapped her hands together, "This is a lovely little subject. She wasn't too hard to get, right?"

Ignoring the question, he asked one of his own. "Why are you not wearing a shirt?" He sounded exasperated, like this wasn't _that _unexpected.

She tilted her head to the side for a moment, "Huh?" after looked down she shook her head and answered, "Oh, while I was eating this morning I spilled some coffee on myself. When Dr. Brown noticed he said I couldn't go around like that so I took it off."

"I- OK," The Director gave in, "By the way, Dr. Brianviller, is there anything else that you need from her before we begin?"

She placed her forefinger against her chin for a second before shaking her head, "Ah, not much. Just some basic tests."

xxxxxxx

Meanwhile, Jerry sat alone at the little cafe they had agreed to have the interview at. He arrived a little bit early to prepare.

But as the clock ticked on, he had an uncertain feeling. The meeting was at 9am. He glanced at his watch.

8:52am

Still a little bit of time left. According to their official records neither of them had any trouble with punctuality. Although, from what he had read, they seemed to get themselves in trouble quite often. He supposed that poking their noses into things that didn't concern them wasn't the worst trait for spies.

With a sigh, he looked at his phone's cracked screen. He had dropped it last night and hadn't had a chance to replace it yet. He had planned on doing that today after the interview. But he worried about the girls. They didn't call him often but when they did it was an emergency.

He shook his head, sure that there was nothing to worry about. They were probably having fun, enjoying their weekend. He smiled at the thought as he slipped the phone away. He wouldn't have to bother them for the next couple of days while he got his new agents set up. They deserved a vacation. He looked at the clock again.

8:56

They were cutting it close. If they were more than 5 minutes late it would count against them. He really would like this to go well. After all, he was Tom's first choice.

When the waitress came back around he had her refill his coffee. He tapped his fingers on the table as he reread the file.

8:59am

The door swung open and a pretty little red-head strode in. She confidently walked up to Jerry. "Claudia Walken, pleasure." She held out her hand. Behind her, her brother stood.

He took her hand firmly, "Jerry, it's all mine." He turned to the brother and shook his hand as well, receiving a mumbled 'Charon'.

When the three of them sat down, Claudia folded her hands in a business manner. Jerry smiled at both of them in turn. "So, I believe that Tom set this up but I would like to hear what the two of you have to say about the whole situation."

"Well," Claudia began thoughtfully, "neither us us really mind the change. Although, I have to say I'm going to be sad to see Tom retire. I understand that you already have agents under your control. It'd be fun to work with others a little. I don't think Tom wanted us to." She pouted a little at the end.

Jerry was slightly uncomfortable with the use of the phrase 'under his control' because he knew that what it really implied, but he supposed that was how Tom ran things. Tom was the one that trained them. He also noticed that Charon had been very uninvolved so far.

"How about you?" Jerry gestured to him.

Charon took a breath before he started, "I don't have a preference for where I work. I don't really like change but I don't have a choice. I also feel that I work best with Claudia or alone but I don't really have an aversion to working with others."

"I see," Jerry noted that everything he said had pretty much been a direct answer. These two seemed to be opposites but, at the same time, they complimented each other well.

xxxxxxxxx

"Isn't it Beautiful, Miria?" Isaac took a deep breath as they got out of the car.

"Sure is Isaac," she had thanked the people that had given them a ride.

"Cali-forn-i-a," He smiled widely. They started walked toward the crowed beach. "Let's help share the love and joy to this wonderful state."

"Hey Isaac?" Miria tilted her head to the side.

"Yes, Miries my dear?"

"How are we going to share love and joy with the whole state?"

With almost no hesitation he answered, "We'll start with one person and then that person will spread it to the next person and so on. We'll start a new trend." He gave her a thumbs up and she returned it.

"That's amazing Isaac!"

xxxxxxx

Clover pouted, "This is so messed up. They, like, brain washed Erik." She looked determinedly at the wall in front of her. "He wouldn't do this to me." Even though there were many people there, no one was paying any attention to her.

The sound of an explosion accompanied with trembling set off several alarms. The scientists that had been ignoring them ran out of the room. "Hey!" Clover cried.

xxxxxxxxxx

Jack was panting by the time he made it back to the van. So the plan hadn't gone exactly as planned but they finished. They got the woman and that was all that was important, right?

As he put the van in gear and start to pulled out some idiot ran in front of them. Jack had to slam on the breaks to keep from hitting him.

"Renee!" he called. "Don't worry, I'm here."

Jack let out an exasperated sigh and popped his knuckles. He really didn't like beating up kids it didn't look like things were going to be easy for him. "Hey!" He slammed the door shut as he got out. "Scram or I'm gonna knock your block off."

Instead of taking heed of the threat, the kid gave him a once over, stepped back from the hood and took off his shirt.

"Damn it," Jack mumbled. "I'm warnin' ya kid, I'll mess you up." It didn't look like he was going to back down.

The kid charged at him, reckless and determined. Jack easily blocked him. For all his courage, it didn't seem like he had very much experience fighting.

An explosive sound and the splattering of blood ended it.

Jack hadn't even noticed Mr. Rail exit the van. He was holding a small gun. This wasn't the way he wanted to end things. But what was done was done. There's no changing the past, just fixing the future.

"Don't be so upset, Jack." Mr. Rail mocked him. "He's one of the incompletes."

Jack nodded, lighting up a cigarette. "What do you want me to do with him then?"

"Nothing." Mr. Rail got back into the car, "life's more fun this way."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Huh?" Felix stopped in his tracks. Chane looked at him curiously. As he glanced at her, he gave her a lopsided smile. "I was just feeling we shouldn't leave yet."

Slowly she slipped her hand into his. "Ha, ah no! I was just thinking, if we stay something really interesting is going to happen."

"What?" he looked at her curiously, "You think that I've had my fun and I should just let them live their own lives?"

She closed her eyes and turned away for a moment.

"Alright," He guided her to a seat, "look, I know you don't agree. We could move on now, catch our flight home and settle in for a nice cup of coco." She gave him an irritated look, "But don't you miss adventure a little? I know part of you is tired of the same old thing. We could travel the world, seeing everything. But will it be as good as this?"

Chane put the tips of her fingers against his cheek. She knew he was going to win. She never could fight with this man. 'My love,' she thought as loudly as she could.

He took her hand in both of his and kissed those fingers. "I know, I love you too. Now, let's find a cool place to settle for a while."

'Cool?' she thought.


	3. The Extraction Team

Chapter 3 - The Extraction Team

To say that Sam and Alex were panicked would be an understatement. After banging on the door to WHOOP headquarters and calling his phone over and over again they were about to give up. "Why isn't Jerry answering? Where is he?" Alex yelled.

"I don't know," Sam gnawed on her lip. Her mind was going through all the things that they could do if they couldn't get a hold of him.

But, thankfully, a non-descriptive, black car pulled up. "Jerry!" They yelled together, rushing over to him. As they were yelling the situation at him, neither of them paid attention to the two others get out of the car.

Jerry looked the two he was traveling with, "It appears we have a situation. Excuse me for a bit." But the girl behind him stepped up.

"Wait," she had an authoritative tome that rubbed Sam the wrong way, "wouldn't it be best to set us up later and let us help now? After all, it's not like we're inexperienced."

"Yes," Jerry looked thoughtful for a moment. "Let's get going, not a moment to lose. I file the paperwork while you five rescue Clover,"

As the five of them rushed inside, the girl said something quietly to the boy. He nodded and slowed down to start texting as they walked.

xxxxxxx

Isaac and Miria had been busy from the moment they arrived on the beach. As they were walking to the shops something stopped them to say something very interesting.

"See!" he held up his posters, "the horizon is a straight line."

"Amazing!" Miria clapped her hands together, "so the Earth really is flat?"

"Well, I'll be," Isaac nodded, "That's pretty convincing." The man showing them seemed pretty happy at the positive reactions he was receiving. The odd couple was even ignoring all the people walking past them yelling to trying to convince them that he was wrong.

Just a little ways away from them was an elderly couple, the man staring hard at them. "Chane," he called to his wife, "that's a couple of faces I haven't seen for a while."

Chane cocked her head toward him, "Isaac and Miria came to join us." She tightened her lips into a slight frown. "Even if that wasn't their reason for coming in the first place, that's why they're here now." He replied to her expression. Chane knit her brow together slightly, a movement so small that it would be easy to miss if you weren't looking for it. "Alright," Felix smiled warmly, "I won't involve them directly, they can get into trouble on their own."

xxxxxxxx

Clover was in real trouble now. It was by chance that she didn't get very hurt by the explosion, but her chair was knocked over, freeing only one hand but also trapping one of her legs. It hurt a lot and she was certain that it was broken.

"This is just great," she said to an empty room. Once again she tried to free herself but nothing was helping and the more she moved around the more it hurt her leg.

xxxxxx

Once they got their equipment and the little information that was available to them, Claudia quickly introduced herself and Charon. He took that as his cue to take off and do his part.

"Sauron," Called the dark-haired one, he hadn't paid attention to her name, although apparently she didn't pay attention to his either, "where are you going?"

"Don't worry," Claudia was handling the situation, "he's going to-" but he walked out the door as she was talking. Even though she didn't say it aloud, he could tell how happy she was to work with someone other than him.

Silis hadn't gotten back to him yet about the information. The more he used the services of the Daily Days, the more he found he liked them. They were generally pretty quick to respond and the information he had gotten was always good.

He caught a cab to the business that Erik's father was supposed to work the next town over. Claudia and the other girls went right to his home to look for clues, he was going to take a different route. It was unlikely that his parents would know very much but there was the possibility that they would know something.

It was a simple office building, he was hoping that Erik hadn't been there often, or at least wasn't that memorable. Otherwise, his plan wouldn't work very well. Of course, if things got messed up he could just play it off as a prank. A quick text to Claudia would keep the family from bolting if it came to it.

Glancing over the parking lot and exterior of the building he had already mapped out all the possible escape routes, an old habit he picked up. He didn't think he would actually need this information. But, as they say, better safe than sorry.

He walked up to the security desk with confidence. The elderly man working at the desk looked bored out of his mind. "Hi there," he greeted Charon in a friendly tone, "is there something you need?"

Charon nodded and put on a polite smile, "I'm looking for Brad, Brad Thompson."

The moment he said it there was a moment of shock and relief on the guard's face. "Erik? You're Brad's son, right?" he scrambled for the phone. He hadn't been given enough time to rebut that, not that he would if he did. This was actually not as difficult as he thought it would be.

As he was waiting for the guard to get off the phone Silis called. While that information could possibly help him in this situation he couldn't risk losing this lead.

He quickly put the phone on silent just as the guard hung up the phone. "Go upstairs, your dad has been so worried about you."

That one sentence told him a lot and for a moment he thought about running. But there could be more. If his father filed a missing person's report there could be useful information in there as well. Silis could get that for him when he called her back. Or maybe he should contact WHOOP, they should already have this information.

He was led into a meeting room where he waited. There was slightest touch of guilt as he thought about what was going to happen. This man thought his missing son was returning to him. Instead, he was going to see him, someone he didn't know. But, for now, he was just going to have to push those thoughts down.

Not minutes had passed when the door swung open. "Erik! Wait, what?" his face melted from pure jot to despair in seconds. "Who are you?" his voice because deep with anger.

Charon stood and replied evenly, "I'm someone who is also concerned about Erik." Mr. Thompson's face softened for a moment. He shut the door and came to sit with him, gesturing that he should sit as well.

For a moment Charon regretted this, but he sat down as well. He wasn't as comfortable with this sympathetic, kind man. It wasn't like this was going to end well for him and he couldn't share the hope that this man was going to try to give him. He was better at handling situations where he could face things head-on.

"Listen," Mr. Thompson said patiently, "things are going to be-"

"I'm not your son's friend," he decided to cut to the chase. He needed to call Silis back anyway. "He's done something unforgivable and disappeared. If you know anything, I'll listen now. Otherwise, you'll never see me again."

Mr. Thompson put his elbows on the table and covered his face with his hand. "No no no no, I knew something like this would happen," came his muffled whine. "Why did he have to see that Renee woman?"

Although he knew it was a long shot he thought he'd ask. "A scientist named Branvillier?"

"Wha... how did you know?" Mr. Thompson's eyes were really red when he looked up.

Charon stood abruptly, "I have some things to attend to." He left, hopefully the agency would take care of cleaning up any traces of him being there. So far they had been pretty good about things like that.

xxxxxx

Soft footsteps told Clover that someone was there. "hey," at this point she didn't care if it was a bad guy or not.

As she was thinking this a really hot guy came walking around the corner. His shoulder-length black hair stuck to his forehead lightly as a thin layer of sweat coated his face and arms. The sleeveless skin-tight shirt showed off those glorious muscles. The grim and small cuts that were scattered here and there just made him look like a character from an apocalyptic movie. "So, hey, wanna help a girl out."

He stopped and looked around sharply for a moment before walking up to her. "Hello, my name is Charon. I've been sent by the agency for the extraction of agent Alex. I assume that's you."

"Well," she smiled at him, "looks like my hero really did come to save me."

xxxxxxx

Erik was still in the parking garage hours after he regenerated. He didn't know what to do. He was supposed to be invincible. Now Renee was gone and he didn't know where to begin looking for her. He banged his fist on the pavement.


	4. Finishing the First Mission

Chapter 4 - Finishing the First Mission

Charon carried this girl to the van that he took. He had planned to discard the van the first chance he got. He did a quick assessment of the agent. She appeared to have a broken leg as well as a few abrasions, but nothing life-threatening. Although, after he didn't react to her flirtation she started to complain. He simply ignored her since she didn't seem to have any pertinent information.

They had been in the van for a while. All of Clover's attempts to flirt had completely failed up until that point. The guy that rescued her gave a brief hello and called himself Charon. At first, she thought that he was hot, like the strong, silent type, but now the silence was just awkward. And what kind of name is Charon anyway?

They hadn't been in the car for more than 15 minutes when he suddenly stopped. "We're walking from here," he said as he got out of the van.

She couldn't see what he was doing as he got out but she craned to see anyway. "Um, hello, broken leg," she reminded him. He completely ignored her but she could hear him doing something around the back.

Suddenly he came around to her side and opened the door. She gave him a skeptical look as he stood there with his arms out. "About time," she said as she awkwardly shuffled into his arms.

As he carried her, bridal-style, away from the van she looked up at him to say something but she noticed something. He had the brightest, golden eyes she had ever seen. "Hey," she had almost forgotten what she was going to say, "What's the plan from here?"

Again, instead of answering he just put her down at the edge of the woods and returned to the van. "Hey!" she shouted at him, "I was talking to you!" She could barely see him changed gears, slam the door and start pushing the van. As annoyed as she was with his lack of talking, she had to admit he didn't look bad when pushing the van, he looked strong. Once the van was completely off the road he returned to her.

He knelt next to her, "Like I said, we walk from here," He turned around and held his arms out so that he could give her a piggyback ride.

"Um, OK," she blushed as she climbed only his back, ignoring the pain in her leg as best as she could.

"They'd be able to find us if we stayed with the van," he started to explain. "This will at least buy us a little time." He paused for a moment. "It's going to be a little rough from here."

"Don't worry," clover flexed her arm, "I'm tougher than I look,"

xxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, Felix had offered to take Isaac and Miria out for lunch. He and his wife were more than happy to sit there and listen as they recounted their last crazy adventure. Even though she had protested getting them involved, he knew that Chane was extremely happy to be in their company again.

"Hm," Felix said as their story continued, "I don't remember if either of you have met our great-grandchildren."

"Hey Isaac," Miria said.

"Yes, Miria, my dear," Isaac smiled happily.

"Aren't their great-grandchildren famous?" Miria said.

"Why, yes they are!" Isaac replied quickly.

"Wouldn't that mean that everyone knows them?" she reasoned.

But Felix jumped in before Isaac got a chance to answer. "I didn't ask if you know them. I asked if you'd met them."

"Oh yeah," Isaac answered, "We met them several years ago."

"Miria nodded, "Firo introduced us."

xxxxxxx

Somewhere halfway across the country, another meeting was taking place. An entire meeting room was filled with men and women wearing black and red robes, all with odd, unnatural smiles. On a large board in the front of the room were several pictures. Each one had something written next to it. Most only had a sentence or two but some had whole paragraphs. There were a couple with Xs through them.

"Miss Adams should probably be our next target," a man near the front concluded, "She hasn't moved in some time." He got a confirmation from the group. "Next, Claudia and Charon Walken," he waited for the noises of discomfort to subside. "These two are the cause of, not only the loss of our last leader, but also the child of light and calamity."

"Not to mention our chances of getting ahold of the immortal boy!" Another woman shouted.

"Unfortunately," the first man continued, "within the last couple years, they joined an organization known as WHOOP. The last leader had a rule of not attracting the attention of that particular organization. However," he raised his voice dramatically," I cannot stand here and allow them to just walk around with everything they've done to us! I say we take things into our own hands!"

"Hold on," a man in the corner interrupted, "wouldn't that be going against the new leader?"

For the first time since the start of the meeting smiles faltered. "So," the man leading the meeting started walking around the table, "are you telling me, telling us, that you're fine with everything they did to us?"

"Well no, but-"

"And you think that the leader wouldn't want us to get rid of the little pests that are bothering them?" he pressed as he got closer.

The man in the corner was getting nervous, "I'm just saying that they set up the rules for a reason." As he looked into the eyes of the man he had once called comrade, he realized that nothing he said from this point on would matter. This was the last time anyone would ever hear from him again.

xxxxxxxx

Claudia looked at her phone unhappily. Charon was supposed to contact her every hour on the hour. It was approaching the third hour and not a word from him at all.

Illness texted her a couple of times. She was happy that she had invited her to stay with them but hearing from her rather than him was annoying.

At the very least he was able to give her the location of the laboratory. The fact that Nebula was directly involved was a little funny.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," Claudia started to storm off, "That's the problem." She understood that going directly to the sight without backup or more information was an extremely bad idea but that's what she was going to do. She was sure that if he was still there everything was going to be OK. Even if he wasn't the universe was going to provide her with all the things that she needed to win.

Sam got into the passenger seat and Alex got in after her. "Hey," Alex leaned forward in her seat. "We don't even know where to go. We should ask Jerry for help."

"We're going to the Nebula Laboratories," Claudia gripped the wheel tightly.

"If you know where Clover was why didn't you say anything?" Sam accused.

Claudia sighed and tried to get a handle on things. Getting mad now wouldn't do any good to anyone. "Charon gave me enough information to go there."

"Wait," Alex said, "so he got back to you?"

"Heh," she smirked, "no, but we're running out of time."

"So we're just going to storm in without a plan?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, we're going to wing it," Claudia answered, "So first we need to-" But as she was talking something in the tree line caught her eye so she stopped as quickly as she could.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked as she got out.

"What's going on?" Alex leaned out of the car.

Claudia stared into the tree line, her hand was at the ready, preparing to draw a weapon. As she was watching both Sam and Alex appeared next to her. The three of them watched carefully as someone approached.

"Hey!" came a familiar voice.

"Clover!" Sam and Alex called together.

Out from the tree line came Charon with Clover on his back. Claudia waited patiently as he set her down and her teammates rushed over.

"Oh my gosh Soren, you're amazing!" Alex proclaimed.

"Huh?" Sam looked at her, "Did you just call him Soren?"

"Um, yeah," Alex returned. "that's his name, right?"

"No," Clover laughed, "it's Charon."

"Oh my gosh," Alex touched his arm. "I'm sorry, I thought your name was Soren."

"It's fine," he mumbled.

It seemed like none of them could see how uncomfortable he was, either that or they didn't really care. And, as funny as it was, she thought it was time to move this party along. "So," she caught everyone's attention, "Is your phone broken or something?"

"Hey," Clover sat up at her, she could see her wince, "he just risked everything to save my life! He's a hero," she looked up at him, "my hero,"

Claudia barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "No, he only did his job," she tossed him the keys and ignored the scowls of the other girls as she got back into the car. Perhaps she was letting her anger get the best of her.

After he helped clover back into the car he got into the driver's seat and mumbled, "Yeah, it did break."


End file.
